Come join us on the Be My Valentine Challenge through February 14, 2014. Think of the amazing things we can accomplish in 5 weeks!!! The rules are: No Rules! Feel free to join during any stage of this challenge!!

Pick your own personal challenge based on whatever is important to you! and come report in whenever it suits you. Some will have a specific weight loss as a goal and some of us will have goals based only on desirable behaviors. We are all at a different place on this journey A goal could be as simple as coming in to post .. Think outside the box. What do **you** need to keep you going?

My goal is in 5 weeks is to celebratenthat winter will be 2/3 over. We will know if the groundhog saw his shadow.

A desirable behavior would be to see if I can maintain my weight. I don't want to have to eat anymore food. A typical woman only needs 50-70 grams of protein a day and I already eat 100-120 grams a day which is enough for a body builder. And I am definitely no body builder.

I heard the term emotional obesity. It is the thing that lives in our mind and is responsible for us regaining the weight we lose. If we can deal with the triggers in our life once and for all, we can lose it never to regain it.

I want to try some visualization and meditation these next five weeks.

I am getting my annual physical this month and will share the results.

I am new to this board and site ...excited as my boyfriend is a Valentine's baby and is celebrating the big 4-0 and I am meeting his family for teh first time and having a big party....= I HAVE TO LOOK GOOD! lol lol

Welcome Sinabuns, Freshstart, sk8termom, Michele, Winifred, cloude2, Danielle & Sammi.
I hole we are all still here to celebrate on Feb 14th.

Over the years I've found that it is important to celebrate the little successes because that is what adds up in the long term to keeping the weight off and never having to diet again. On Jan 1, 1912, I weighed 198 lb because in 2011 I regained up to 226 lbs. no matter how hard I tried, I never lost more than 2-3 lbs a month. But the little losses added up And today I am learning to maintain. I have never weighed this number (141) except for a brief moment between getting married and getting pregant and quitting smoking in 1976 when I was starving myself on Weight Watchers eating cottage cheese etc. Today, I can't bear to look at or entertain the thought of eating cottage cheese. Next month I will be 66 yrs old, then I was 26. 40 years seems like another era.

I don't want to regain and lose again. It seems so long as I stick to whole food, unprocessed, without chemicals and additives, I am okay. I love what I eat today and even though I stopped eating meat 2 months ago, I am happy. Will I ever eat meat again? Possibly, but just for today, I am abstaining from it for personal reasons.

This morning I am having a smoothie with cranberries and strawberries, some greens and protein powder. It fills 3 tall glasses and is a very tasty, filling morning meal.

I can't commit to walking any specific number in the next six weeks because I am not motivated to exercise. I want to hibernate and stay warm. With the wind chill it will be -15, nothing nearly as bad as The northern states in the midwest, like MN and ND, but enough to keep me indoors.

I am cooking my homemade cranberry relish this morning. I use liquid stevia, cranberries, oranges, pineapple, apples and cinnamon. My DH and I love it in cereals and smoothies. I use TVP for cereal, high protein, cooks quickly and looks like oatmeal or grape nuts. At lunch I use it for rice. It takes on the flavor of the dish. It is texturized vegetable protein made from soy.

Well I have rattled on enough for the first day of the challenge. Have a great day!

I would also like to everyone. I have a feeling this will be a great year. I hope to see my goal weight by New Years 2015. Losing weight is not easy and it is one of the hardest thing I have ever done. I know I can never go back to eating like I was before. Sugar is my addiction and if I have one bite I will spin out of control. I am also an emotional eater. I noticed it for sure in December. My dog needed surgery and was in pain. It stressed out our whole family so much that we started to bicker a little bit. That is not us. I ate the wrong foods to settle myself down. I knew while I was eating that it was wrong, but for some reason I didn't care. I just wanted to have comfort even if it was just for one minute. This is the part I have to conquer. The stress eating. I do believe what Mary is saying, obesity is emotional.

I am happy to say so far I am down 37 pounds. I still have much more to lose, but you don't know how much these forums have helped me. For a long time I would just read them and not get involved, but it is so powerful to join in and be accountable. We are all in this together, we have a common bond. Best wishes to everyone, we can do this!

Hi gang! I reached a new low this morning! 266lbs. 55 lbs down since May 27th. I'm not a really fast loser due to health problems, age(58), yoyo dieting, medications and the list goes on. I am not giving up! I went through November and December with no loss. I stayed perfectly on plan in November but was so frustrated that by Christmas, I did overindulge. Got back on plan January 2nd and have lost my 4lb gain plus. So thankful the scale is moving again!!

Sk8- I know what you mean about the bloat. I eat too much of'legal' food sometimes. I want crunchy food at night so end up eating too many pork skins.

Here's a link to the History of Food Labeling laws which I read about yesterday. Copy and paste to a browser. It goes hand in hand on an article about Food Labels by Rachael Moelier Gorman in Eating Well.

Good morning! One more day of this Arctic air and then it's suppose to warm up into the 20's & 30's I'm happy to be back on track with my eating and hoping to see the scale move down down down.
Did anyone watch my 600lb life last night??? I was appalled at how that woman's husband treated her....I hope she sends him packing...what a jerk!

I'm in, too. Not sure about my goals, other than no drinking, staying on plan, exercising a bit everyday. I've been walking outside every day EXCEPT for Monday when it was 15 below and windy. I could have done 5 minutes, but I didn't. I was out yesterday. I am considering a day of intermittent fasting a week, but haven't decided. I am a slow loser, but as long as I am losing I am reluctant to change too much of what seems to be working. I feel like I am growing more comfortable with my WOE and being able to stick with it this year.

I am starting over AGAIN, and last time posting here helped me a lot. Today is day 3 and so far so good. I haven't made many plans other than watching the carbs and trying to get some exercise at least 3 days a week.

Too much salty food yesterday, gained 1/2 lb. still down 5 lbs since the start. This weight (284) is a weight I've been stuck on before, so perhaps it's going to be hard to crash through. I need to be patient, though it's hard.

Hey hey all!!!!!! Count me in! I'm 266 today and I would LOVE to be in the 250's by V-day

Plan? Tracking everything I eat, getting AT LEAST 15 mins of exercise 3 times a week (I know, not much at all, but baby steps!) and picking a plan and reading or re-reading the book and sticking with it!

__________________

Sara

Goal #1- 230- Back to pre-preg weight
Goal #2- 199- Back to Onederland
Final Goal- 160- For now, then reassess

I'd like to join in on this challenge! I would like to see the 220's by Valentine's Day. On another note, does anyone know if Tic Tacs are allowed for nibbling on during the PMS week of the month? They say 0 Carbs yet one of the ingredients says "Sugar". I don't want to start relying on Atkins bars or Sugar Free candies that have 17+ sugar alcohols in them, that's just an accident waiting to happen while out and about in public.

Hi all , well i am been trying to stay one plan but i wont get to shop till Tuesday. so it has been not so easy with a house full of carbs and not to meany LC foods. I am doing my best till I can shop.